Ejnar Knudsen III '91, is a managing partner of Kruse Investment Company, a family investment office, and Craton Capital, a hedge fund focused on public and private investments. Kruse Investment Company and Craton Capital were early investors of Cilion, a leader in developing ethanol production in North America. In 2006, Cilion received $200 million in equity funding from several notable investors including Richard Branson’s Virgin Fuels and Vinod Khosla’s Khosla Ventures. Knudsen is a board member of Cilion and assists the company with finance, risk management, and business development. He was instrumental in Cilion’s plan to locate a biofuels plant in upstate New York.

Knudsen began his Cornell life as an exchange student from a California university. During his semester at Cornell, a professor noted his hunger to learn about investing and invited Knudsen to assist him in a research study, the results of which were published in the Wall Street Journal. Knudsen was hooked on Cornell and never looked back. At Cornell he stayed rooted in activities related to his family’s dairy business as president of the Dairy Club, a Dairy Fellow and a Farm Credit Fellow. After Cornell, Knudsen moved to New York City and joined Rabobank, the world’s largest financial institution focused on the food and agribusiness sectors. At Rabobank, he developed an expertise in international finance and eventually assisted the CEO in the Netherlands in developing the bank’s international strategy. Knudsen also established a subsidiary company for Rabobank to make venture capital investments in early-stage agriculture technology companies. As CEO of this subsidiary, he oversaw and structured numerous investments, while holding board positions on several portfolio companies.

During this time, Knudsen formed an investment partnership, Craton Capital, with another Cornell graduate, Raju Shah ’90. They pooled their funds along with those of their friends and family to jointly pursue investments. Craton now has $30 million in assets, and has achieved an average annual compounded return of 28 percent over the past decade.

In 2001, Knudsen earned a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and left Rabobank, moved back to California, and joined as a partner of Kruse Investment Company, where he co-manages the investment funds of the Kruse Family and Craton Capital. Over the past six years, he helped grow Western Milling, a Kruse company specializing in grain and feed distribution, from $30 million to over $500 million in annual sales. In 2003, Western Milling formed a separate company, Phoenix Bio Industries (PBI), to construct an ethanol plant next to its Goshen, Cal., facility. PBI’s plant, the first large-scale ethanol plant in California, was built, brought online, and sold before its competition managed to complete construction of their plants. Knudsen played a key role in funding and selling the PBI. This ethanol plant is able to produce fuel that has a 2:1 life-cycle energy balance.

Knudsen also finds time to give back to his community. In 2002, he hosted a fundraiser for a local college, raising $10,000. The event has continued to grow each year and has raised more than $200,000. When a community service center at the Goshen School lost funding, Knudsen helped save the center. Western Milling purchased the facility and set up a program that gave employees half of their hourly pay to spend time reading with children at the school.

Knudsen has maintained his connection to Cornell. While living in New York City in the 1990s, he served as district director on the CALS Alumni Association Board of Directors and helped organize many alumni events and launch a breakfast speaker program at the Cornell Club of New York that is still ongoing. After moving to California, he helped launch a Central Valley alumni group and hosts Cornell alumni events at his home. Annually, he meets with Professor David Galton and the Dairy Fellows program, and has hosted them at his business and home on their visits to California.

He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council. Knudsen is working with Professor Larry Walker in Biological and Environmental Engineering, whose team is focused on biofuels production. He also is collaborating with Professor Paul Curtis in Natural Resources to determine the best ways to preserve and enhance habitat for birds, deer, and other wildlife in Upstate New York, while allowing for the growth and production of biomass crops for energy. Knudsen was a presenter at the Cornell Entrepreneur Network’s Alternative Energy Presentations conference in November 2006 and the Entrepreneurship@Cornell 2007 conference. Over the years, Knudsen has mentored many individuals looking to expand their knowledge of banking and investing, and regularly employs Cornell students as interns.

Knudsen lives in the center of California’s most productive agricultural region in the town of Exeter, and is married to Elizabeth Knudsen.